Chris Green

Postgraduate Research Student

In 2006 I graduated with distinction from the University of Chester History Department 'Landscape, Heritage and Society' MA course, 30 years after completing my first degree in Geography at Sheffield University. Having recently taken redundancy after a long career in the IT industry, I am now taking the opportunity to immerse myself fully in the academic environment.

Overview

Under the supervision of James Pardoe, my research will in general terms look at how the arts, and in particular literature, can be used as historical resources. More specifically, it will look at the way in which a 'real' past described in a contemporary novel of that era is changed on its journey to us in the 21st century. It will look at the various 'filters' that distort the message. For example, there may be filters of 'idealisation' imposed by the author as a result of his or her place in society and their view of it, 'interpretation' filters when a work is assessed critically by academics, 'adaptation' filters when a work is filleted for a film or television production, 'presentation' filters when the work is edited and summarised for heritage presentation, and finally 'perception' filters that we add when we read the book or view the heritage. I will also be looking at the way these processes may be aided and abetted by depictions of contemporary life and landscape in art and by literature-based and programme music of the same eras.